Page 20 - YOU Magazine | Issue 2

THE Natasha Bazil is a former rugby player who was raised
in and around gang culture. But it’s true to say her shell isn’t naturally hardened.
Instead it is the 15 years spent navigating a system determined to break her which has made the 44-year-old mother more resilient than most women her age.
Natasha is solo parenting
three gorgeous children. All have autism, are non-verbal and require significant support going about their daily tasks.
The oldest is Maximus (Max) who turned 18 in July. Referring to him as “my king”, Natasha says Max
has sensory issues and social skills deficiencies but is “gentle, and probably the most relaxed” of all three children.
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Next is Beyonce (BB) who is 15. She has significant intellectual and communications deficits and needs to be medicated to manage her anxiety and frustrations. Natasha calls BB her “angry bird” and says, just like herself, her daughter is strong willed but also “a work in progress”.
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The baby of the family is Cedric, who is 12 and like his siblings, requires assistance with personal care tasks and daily living skills. “My Cedie just wants to hug everybody,” Natasha says. “He is my sunrise in the morning.”
Autism has humbled Natasha Bazil, but it has also seen her emerge stronger than even she could
have imagined.
Natasha’s unwavering dedication to her children and the financial, physical and emotional turmoil she has faced in the fight to secure a better future for them recently saw her awarded carer of the year in Autism Australia’s 2020 Aspect Recognition Awards.
Yet despite what many may see as the rough hand that she has been dealt, Natasha’s is a story not of despair, fragility and resentment but instead one of courage, humour and unconditional love.
“God gives his hardest battles
to his strongest soldiers,” Natasha says. “The journey has been about not giving up and still smiling while doing it.”
20 WINTER 2020 You